Christian Church

==Lutheran tradition==
[[File:AugsburgConfessionArticle7OftheChurch.jpg|thumb|The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. &ndash;[[Augsburg Confession]]<ref name="bookofconcord.org">See [http://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.php#article7 Augsburg Confession, Article 7, Of the Church]</ref>]]
The [[Lutheranism|Lutheran churches]] traditionally hold that their tradition represents the [[one true church|true visible Church]].<ref name="Frey1918">{{cite magazine|last=Frey|first=H.|title=Is One Church as Good as Another?|volume=37|year=1918|magazine=[[The Lutheran Witness]]|language=en|pages=82–83}}</ref> The [[Augsburg Confession]] found within the [[Book of Concord]], a compendium of belief of the [[Lutheran Church]]es, teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church".<ref name="Ludwig2016">{{cite magazine|title=Luther's Catholic Reformation|last=Ludwig|first=Alan|date=12 September 2016|magazine=[[The Lutheran Witness]]|language=en|quote= When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession before Emperor Charles V in 1530, they carefully showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils and even the canon law of the Church of Rome. They boldly claim, "This is about the Sum of our Doctrine, in which, as can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers" (AC XXI Conclusion 1). The underlying thesis of the Augsburg Confession is that the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church. In fact, it is actually the Church of Rome that has departed from the ancient faith and practice of the catholic church (see AC XXIII 13, XXVIII 72 and other places).}}</ref> When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]] in 1530, they believe to have "showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils".<ref name="Ludwig2016"/>

Nevertheless, the Lutheran churches teach that "there are indeed true Christians in other churches" as "other denominations also preach the Word of God, though mixed with error"; since the proclamation of the Word of God bears fruit, Lutheran theology accepts the appellation "Church" for other Christian denominations.<ref name="Frey1918"/>